A balanced effort led the Golden Rams to the third ranked offense in the PSAC and 15th in the country. The running game ranked fourth with 199 yards per game, while the passing game went for 281 yards per game for a total offense of 480 yards per contest. This was the second most prolific offense (2014) in the Bill Zwaan era at West Chester. The highest output came at Edinboro with the Golden Rams rolled up 758 yards and in no game this season was West Chester held to less than 350 yards of offense. The Golden Rams converted 49% of their third downs which was second in the conference and ninth in the nation.
The Golden Rams fumbled 12 times and lost five of them. It’s interesting to note that nine of those fumbles and four of the five lost fumbles came in the games against Cheyney and Millersville, probably more due to a lack of mental focus than weather conditions. West Chester was 7-0 in games where they didn’t throw an interception, but just 1-3 in games in which they did throw a pick. On average, the Golden Rams' offense held the ball 35:21 per game, tops in the entire PSAC and second best in all of Division II.
Quarterback
The quarterback was a roller coaster for West Chester. Last year’s starter Pat Moriarty was tabbed as the opening day starter this season as well. But in 12 pass attempts at Bentley, he completed two to Golden Rams and two to Falcons, and so he was lifted for Andrew Derr, who would then start the next four games. During that span he completed 12 touchdown passes, but he also threw 10 interceptions and West Chester went 1-3. He set a team record with 63 pass attempts against Slippery Rock only to break that record the very next week with 70 passes at Edinboro, a game for which he was named ECAC Offensive Player of the Week. Derr sustained a foot injury at Kutztown, so Moriarty started played the next four games. Derr would return for the final two games against Millersville and Clarion. For the season, Derr finished 146 of 259, 56.4%, 2,159 yards, 17 TD’s, and 11 int’s for an efficiency rating of 139.6. Moriarty finished 55 of 114, 48.2%, 810 yards, 8 TD’s, and 2 int’s for an efficiency rating of 127.6.
Alec Werner was 5 of 6 for 69 yards and a touchdown on the season. Redshirt freshman Paul Dooley completed his only pass attempt for 11 yards, but he did pick up 129 yards on the ground. When all combined, the passing game ranked fifth in the PSAC with 281 yards per game. West Chester got a lot of rushing yards from the quarterback position this year. Derr (59 carries, 163 yards, 5 TD’s) got the bulk of the carries, but Dooley (20 carries, 129 yards, 1 TD) saw action in the final six games of the season from the wildcat position.
Offensive Line
The offensive line was fourth in the conference in allowing only 16 sacks this season. Left tackle Doug Gilbert is one of the most decorated offensive lineman in recent West Chester history having earned first team All-PSAC East honors in all three seasons that he started. Next to him was junior Vince Lostracco who earned second team All-PSAC East honors. At center was Devan LaBau. Right guard Tyler Drob earned first team All-PSAC East recognition and Evyn Stadulis started at right tackle this season. Gilbert graduated earlier this month, but the other four are expected to return next season.
Spelling the starters were Jake Duncan, Alex Host, Connor Walsh and Frank Tranzilli.
Running Back
There were plenty of options at running back, but junior Jarel Elder (202 carries, 1,013 yards, 11 TD’s) got a bulk of the work. The junior earned first team All-PSAC East honors. The season saw the emergence of sophomores Mike Class (59 carries, 351 yards, 3 TD’s) and Mark Dukes (20 carries, 128 yards, 1 TD). And Eerin Young filled the stat sheet in running (75 carries, 333 yards, 2 TD’s) as well as receiving (28 catches, 283 yards, 1 TD).
Wide Receiver
Senior Shannon Mayer (23 catches, 281 yards, 3 TD’s) started the season with two big games at Bentley (7 catches, 73 yards, 1 TD) and against Slippery Rock (9 catches, 128 yards, 1 TD), but an injury caused him to miss six games and only get limited action in the final three contests. Classmate Jim Hurley (6 catches, 137 yards, 1 TD) was also limited this season due to an injury at Bentley.
So the top targets of Golden Ram quarterbacks were junior Tyler Karpinski (45 catches, 798 yards, 8 TD’s), sophomore Jordan Banks (38 catches, 593 yards, 8 TD’s) and junior Marcus Sydnor (20 catches, 365 yards, 3 TD’s). Karpinski had a catch in every game and eclipsed 100 yards receiving against Edinboro (178 yards), Bloomsburg (105 yards) and Shippensburg (102 yards). As a result, he was named first team All-PSAC East. Banks had 113 yards and two touchdowns against Lock Haven and Sydnor quietly had a catch in every game.
Redshirt freshman Lex Rosario (11 catches, 146 yards) and sophomore Brandon Kuntz (9 catches, 102) each had very good showings at Edinboro.
Tight End/H-back
Junior Bill Ford didn’t register any statistics, but he served as the starting H-back for the first seven games of the season until legal events took him off the football team. Sophomore Simon Williams (5 catches, 102 yards, 1 TD) got most of the starts at tight end and true freshman Cody Boozel (2 catches 37 yards) also saw time. All the way from the United Kingdom, Matt Sharp (1 catch, 9 yards, 1 TD) had his significant moment against Cheyney while redshirt freshman Tyler Higgins also saw time this past season.
Derr threw for 2,159 yards in 7 games (Photo R&R Photography)
Moriarty also lined up as a receiver this season (Photo R&R Photography)
Werner saw limited action this season (Photo R&R Photography)
Dooley scored a touchdown at Bloomsburg (Photo R&R Photography)
Gilbert has manned the left tackle spot for three years (Photo Ron Hockman)
Lostracco was second team All-PSAC East (Photo R&R Photography)
Labau snapped to a variety of QB's this year (Photo R&R Photography)
Drob was first team All-PSAC East (Photo Ron Hockman)
Stadulis started every game at right tackle (Photo R&R Photography)
Duncan saw time in nine games this year (Photo R&R Photography)
Host played in every game this season (Photo R&R Photography)
Tranzilli saw action against Lock Haven (Photo Ron Hockman)
Elder leaves a wake of defenders (Photo R&R Photography) 
Class was PSAC East Offensive Player of the Week after Clarion 
Dukes was part of a massive rushing effort at East Stroudsburg
Young was a dual threat on offense (Photo R&R Photography) 
Mayer had a big game against the Rock (Photo Ron Hockman) 
Two of Hurley's 6 catches went for more than 40 yards
Karpinski had three 100-yard receiving games (Photo Ron Hockman)
Banks had two TD catches against Lock Haven (Photo Ron Hockman)
Sydnor had a catch in every game (Photo Ron Hockman)
Rosario made an impact in his first season (Photo R&R Photography)
Kuntz had nine catches on the year (Photo Ron Hockman)
Ford was a contributor on special teams (Photo Ron Hockman)
Williams scored a TD against Cheyney (Photo Ron Hockman)
Boozel had a 34-yard catch at Bloomsburg (Photo R&R Photography)
Sharp celebrates his TD catch (Photo R&R Photography)
Higgins primarily contributed on special teams (Photo R&R Photography)
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